School is Back in Session in Liberia

Yet more signs that the Ebola outbreak is coming under control in the hardest hit country. “Students in Liberia began returning to the classroom Monday after a six-month closure during the Ebola epidemic that left thousands dead, lining up in their uniforms to have their temperatures taken before they could enter school gates…Many students said they had grown tired of sitting at home, and at least one principal said teenage pregnancy had spiked during the six-month school gap. A few, though, remained a bit fearful about returning even though there are just a handful of Ebola cases left in the country that once saw 100 new patients a week.” (AP http://yhoo.it/1AK0HkD)

A Fund to Fight Boko Haram…Presidents from the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States pledged in an extraordinary meeting on Monday to create an $87 million emergency fund to fight the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1FTJwx8)

Egypt Bombs Libya…UNSC may Hold Meeting on Wednesday…In retaliation for the gruesome killing of Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya, Egypt sent its air force on the attack against Islamic State targets there Monday, in a move that threatened to ensnare Egypt in a regional conflict with the militants. (WaPo http://wapo.st/1L4H086)

DAWNSer of the Day…Giulia McPherson: “I recently joined Jesuit Refugee Service/USA as Assistant Director for Policy working to develop and promote policy positions on issues related to refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons. JRS is an NGO working in more than 50 countries – check us out!” @GiuliaMcPherson; @JRSUSA Fill out our questionnaire to be listed as future DAWNSer of the Day–> http://goo.gl/forms/xpVn39RqOk

Ebola

Sierra Leone’s government promised a full investigation Monday after an internal audit found that nearly one-third of the money received to fight Ebola was spent without saving the necessary receipts and invoices to justify the spending. (AP http://yhoo.it/1AK0IFg)

The leaders of the countries devastated by the west African Ebola outbreak vowed at a summit in Guinea on Sunday to eradicate the virus by mid-April. (AFP http://yhoo.it/17icYk1)

Africa

Seven UN peacekeepers have been wounded in an explosion in northeastern Mali, military sources from the force said. (AFP http://yhoo.it/19oXufP)

Sudanese security officers seized the print runs of 14 newspapers on Monday, a government-run media body said, in one of the most sweeping crackdowns on the press in recent years. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1AK0Dl0)

South Sudan government and rebel forces are both recruiting children as young as 13 to fight in the country’s civil war, a rights group said Monday in a report rejected by the government. (AFP http://yhoo.it/17id9vF)

South Sudan’s government on Monday threatened to silence journalists if they broadcast interviews with rebels involved in the civil war. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1CB3wUj)

Islamist gunmen killed four airport workers in a drive-by shooting in the center of Mogadishu on Monday, the police and rebels said, showing the rebels can still carry out attacks in the capital even as they lose territory in the countryside. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1ziYqsi)

The Democratic Republic of Congo said it had rejected United Nations support for a joint offensive against Hutu rebels in the country’s restive east with a warning against international interference in its affairs. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1AK062p)

The Nigeria-based terror group Boko Haram on Monday threatened neighboring countries Niger and Chad, warning the fighters were prepared to carry out suicide bombings in the countries sending troops to help fight the extremists. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1AK0RbQ)

Nigerian Boko Haram insurgents attacked a Cameroon military camp near the town of Waza in the north of the country on Monday, wounding several soldiers, an army spokesman said. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1AK0G08)

South Africa’s main opposition party has called for an investigation into why mobile telephone reception was cut in parliament ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s chaotic State Of The Nation address last week. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/17idzCe)

The U.N. representative to Mali expressed hope for the latest round of peace talks set to begin Monday between the warring factions in the country. (AP http://yhoo.it/1v6AQT8)

The death toll from a cholera epidemic in Mozambique that broke out after widespread flooding has climbed to 28, the government said Monday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1ziYsQM)

MENA

French President Francois Hollande condemned the “savage” killing of 21 Egyptians in Libya by Islamic State and said France and its allies were determined to fight the militants. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1AK03DE)

Human rights groups have launched a new campaign to free Syrian activists held by the government or rebels as they mark the third anniversary of the arrest of prominent lawyer Mazen Darwish. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1AK07U3)

Asia

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday delayed by six months the release of a report into alleged war crimes committed during Sri Lanka’s civil war, a move sought by the country’s new government. (AP http://yhoo.it/1v6BEqR)

Human rights groups in Thailand are calling on the Thai government to provide greater protections after the slaying of another land rights activist in southern Thailand. (VOA http://bit.ly/1CB32NY)

Indonesia wants to stop women going abroad as domestic workers to preserve the country’s “dignity” after the high-profile case of an Indonesian maid abused and treated like a slave in Hong Kong, local media reported on Monday. (TRF http://yhoo.it/17idIWs)

Growing fighting between Myanmar’s army and ethnic Kokang fighters in a region bordering China has killed dozens in the past week and sent tens of thousands fleeing across the frontier, reports said Monday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1v6ASKs)

The Americas

In a new inspector general report, auditors slammed the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for allowing workers to collect millions in overtime without having any way to verify if they should actually receive it. (Fiscal Times http://bit.ly/1L4GyGZ)

Seven people are dead and four others are missing in central Argentina after heavy rain led to street floods that swept up several people, including a 5-year-old girl. (AP http://yhoo.it/1v6BDDy)

From Washington state to North Carolina, federal lawsuits are challenging the livestock industry to change its ways. The arguments are based on studies that increasingly show the impact phosphorous, nitrate and bacteria from fertilizer and accumulated manure have on lakes and rivers as well as air pollution that may be harmful to respiratory health. (AP http://yhoo.it/1v6Btfk)

…and the rest

Governments must persuade businesses to invest in protecting cities from natural disasters, and climate and development experts should heed the needs of poor communities hardest hit by climate catastrophes, experts said. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/17idGhl)